Chocolate Cookie Competition!
Roses are red, chocolate is sweet, there’s chocolate protein cookies?? That’s pretty neat.
I think I'll go ahead and start a book full of poems about food-- feel free to pre-order yours now ;)
As we already know, I have a big sweet tooth…
...and while I sometimes indulge in that, if I gave in every time I wanted something sweet, I’d be approximately 500 lbs. What’s my secret to staying on track while also staying satisfied? Not deprivation, INNOVATION!
I’ve found many new ways to still get that sweet kick without the calorie punch, and one of the top ways is with pre-made protein sweets such as bars and COOKIES!
Oh, yes, I said cookies. If you’ve been in a health food store/supplement shop, you’ve likely seen some of these-- even the grocery stores carry them now! What (seems to have) started with Lenny & Larry’s has since expanded to cookies from other brands such as Quest, ProSupps, D’s Naturals, MuscleTech and more.
With so many “protein cookies” out there today, which is worth the buy? Well, I’m glad you asked…
For today’s tasting, I went with cookies from 3 different companies: D’s Naturals “No Cow Protein Cookie”, Lenny & Larry’s “The Complete Cookie”, and Quest’s latest product: Protein Cookie. I was hoping to go simple “chocolate chip” but couldn’t find that flavor in all 3 brands, so “double chocolate” it was (I certainly have nothing against chocolate...especially twice the chocolate).
Looking at just macro-nutrients and calories, here’s what we got:
No Cow Protein Cookie:
Complete Cookie (comes with 2 servings, but looking at just 1 serving):
Quest Cookie:
Lowest calorie: ½ of the Complete Cookie (1 serving) Lowest fat: The Complete Cookie Lowest carb: No Cow Highest protein: Quest Highest fiber: Quest Lowest sugar: Quest Sugar alcohol: Quest (5g), No Cow (7g) No sugar alcohol: The Complete Cookie
And now the most important part: THE TASTE!
Just like with the battle of the birthday cake bars, this taste test required the assistance of my fiance, a blindfold, and my good ole taste buds.
My first bite came from the No Cow cookie. Right away, I noticed it was very dry. The consistency/texture was not “cookie” like, and the taste wasn’t very chocolaty or sweet. There were the occasional dark-chocolate chip in there, but overall it lacked the 2 things it advertised: double chocolate flavor and tasting like a cookie.
The next taste I had was the Quest cookie. As soon as I bit into it, I was relieved to feel a chewy, moist cookie texture (think “Chips Ahoy! Chewy” --definitely not “homemade chewy”). The taste was sweeter than the last cookie and for sure chocolaty. There were also more chocolate chips in this one than the No Cow, and the chocolate chips were milk chocolate. The taste was good...for a protein treat. You got to remember we’re not talking real-deal-cookies here. One thing that I noticed was that the taste reminded me of a Fiber One brownie --possibly because of all the added fiber in this cookie--, it has a bit of a “processed” flavor.
Last was a familiar taste, I knew right away it was the Lenny & Larry’s cookie (though, before I bit into this one, I was debating whether or not the second cookie was Lenny & Larry’s). It had a very similar texture and taste to Quest. It also had a good amount of milk chocolate chips, again, like Quest. In regards to taste, I noted that it tasted a little more chewy than the cookie that preceded it, but it was still that store-bought-cookie type of chewy.
Something interesting that I noticed was that all Lenny & Larry’s cookies seem to have a “Lenny & Larry’s” aftertaste to them. I can’t explain what it tastes like, it just is a Lenny & Larry specific taste? Like the processed taste I got from the Quest cookie, just slightly different. (Sorry, that’s not very helpful, but try one and you’ll see what I’m talking about-- it took tasting other cookies beforehand for me to really pick up on it)
So, after trying a little piece of each, I immediately crossed the No Cow cookie off my list of top contenders (which is a shame because I enjoy their bars, so I had high hopes). It was between the similar, yet different, Lenny & Larry’s and Quest cookies.
After a bite of this one, a nibble of that one, another bite here, another bite there, I FINALLY reached a decision (after eating 2 full cookies...truth be told, I probably could’ve reached this decision sooner, but hey, better safe than sorry, right??).
The winner of this double chocolate duel is…
in 3...
...2
1!
This was very close, butttt, the Quest cookie! With less sugar (not including the Erythritol), more protein, more fiber, and a good chewy/chocolaty/moist texture and taste, I got to give it to Quest (I swear this blog is not sponsored by Quest! They coincidentally just keep winning my blind taste tests!).
Now, would I make these cookies a staple in my “clean cheat” weekly diet? Unfortunately, no. They’re not bad, but I don't think they are anything special. I would much rather reach for a Quest bar (and save myself about 7 grams of fat doing so…) than another one of these.
However, I still would like to give the other flavors a shot. So, when the time comes that I try another, I will most certainly be heating it up before enjoying. Who knows, maybe that will change my perception on them? Besides, everyone knows cookies are better warm!
Have you tried these cookies before?
Have you tried a different brand’s cookie?
What are your thoughts on the top cookie-contender??
Get the discussion going! Send me an email!